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@gatita tatr geteut @Hita JAMES BQCLARK, OF PLANTSVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent No. 67.024, dated July 23, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE METHOD 0I' MAKING SOLID BLANKS FOR WAGON-SHAGKLB.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: i

Be it known vthat I,`IAMES B. CLARK, of Plantsville, in the county of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and improved Manner of Forming Solid Blanks for Wagon-Shaft Shackle; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to which my invent-ion appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure I is a plan or top view of a bar oi' iron from which I make the blank. l

Figure 2 is a similar view of the bar, showing the cuts or slots which indicate the lines of separation of the blanks.

Figure 3 is a. plan or top view of a blank separated from the bar.

Figure 4 is a similar view of a completed blank.

Similai` letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to form the solid blank for wagonshat`t shackle from one bar of iron in such a manner'that, although the blank is cross-shaped, having four arms which meet at right angles, the grainvot the iron should run parallel with the direction of each arm in each arin, und that the Suid blank should furthermore be made of one single'piece of metal. IIereiot'oresuch blanks were either' formed by welding two bars together, or a bar of iron was formed into the necessary shape between dies, the arms being pressed out from the body; thereby the direction ofthe grain was interrupted in the arms, and the strength ofthe article consequeatly reduced. By my method all these diiculties are overcome, as I make a complete and strong article with the lea-st amount of power and labor.

In carrying out my invention, I bend an iron har, A, by any suitable means, into the shape indicated in tig. 1; that is to say, I bend the portions B of the Abar alternately to one and to the other side ot' a line drawn longitudinally through the centre of the bar, as indicated in fig. 1, or, in other words, the portions B arc bent eccentrieally to the axis ofthe bar, the different portions thus divided off by bending the bnr in the aforesaid manner being connected with each other by strips a, at an angle of about forty-five degrees. Idstead of bending the bar A, if, may be swaged between rolls or otherwise, in such a manner that the grain of the iron shall be parallel with the sides of the bar. The bar which has been thus shaped is divided in sections, and each section slotted, as

l indicated by the lines d ef, the latter ruiming transversely trom the cut or slot il in a direction perpendicular' to those ot' the arm b, to the respective edges ot' the bar, :is is clearly shown in iig. 2, each piece, when separated from the other, forming one blank of the sli-ape represented in iig. 3 By thesecuts or slots, the body c c and the arms b b may be formed in each blank, and before said blanks are separated from each other. In forming the slots two cutters are employed, one cutting the longitudinal grooves'or slots, and the other placed at right angles thereto, simultaneously cutting the transverse slots e. 'lne slotfis formed by any ordinary cutter, and is the last point separat-ed from the bar in formingthe blank shown in iig. 3. The longer arui b ot" one blank touches the shorter arih b of the next blank, and the-part c otl one body touches the part c of the other body. These pieces C C, when separated, may be, by any suitable process or in any suitable manner, bent or swaged into the proper shape; that is to say, the arms b aad b may be bent at right angles to the bpdy c c', as is shown in g. 4, and a complete solid blank for wagon-shaft shackle is thus formed, in which the grain of` the m etal is made to run parallehor nearly so, with the direction ot' each arm b b and c c.

Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim therein-as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The method of making and forming the solid blanks for wagonshaft shackle ot one piece of metal, the grain thereof running parallel, or nearly so, with the direction of each arm, substantially as set forth.

` 'JAMES B. CLARK.

Witnesses:

E. M. Horouinss,

L. P.' Nomos. 

